Parson Nathaniel
Parson Nathaniel is a character in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds - both in the album and in the Live on Stage Adaptation. He is played originally by Rhydian Roberts and in "The Next Generation" by Jason Donavan. In both versions, he had a wife named Beth. He fills the role of the Curate from the original novel. Information The Journalist (George Herbert) finds him in a ruined church yard, with the church is burning and the yard been overtaken by the Red weed. The Journalist, believing the Parson to be dead and unable to leave him to the Red weed's mercy, attempts to bury him - only to be shocked when he wakes up. Moments later, Beth (having seen the church ablaze) arrives and comes to Nathaniel's aid. However, the Parson is delirious and believes the green flare from the cylinders were a sign from Satan, with the Martians been his Demons who have come for the souls of mankind. Beth and the Journalist both try to snap him out of his delusional state, with the Journalist stating "pull yourself together, man! What good is religion if it fails you in a calamity?" Seeing a Fighting machine approaching, the two carry Nathaniel to a nearby cottage as the Martians spray steam - turning their black smoke into thick dust. Inside the house, Nathaniel laments that he has failed mankind because he could not help the people when they most needed him. Beth tries to convince him he did well, with the Journalist adding that he would have the chance to help people again, but a cylinder lands on the house and Beth is killed. The Journalist silences Nathaniel, who is confused and does not realize his wife is dead - believing that she was a demon and reacting with confusion as he doesn't understand why Satan would kill one of his own. The Martians build a new machine, that had a basket on it's back and captures humans using its nimble claws. The two men spend several days in the house, and they observe that the Martians have no specific gender and they create more Martians by growing them on the sides of their body, where they fall free and grow. They see that the Martians take away their blood from the captured humans before injecting it into themselves. The Parson sees this and is traumatized. He realises Beth is dead and begins to yell that he will destroy the Martians with his faith and prayers. The Journalist silences him by knocking him out before hiding when the claw of the Martian Handling Machine investigates the house. The Journalist can only watch as the claw grabs the Parson's unconscious body and dumps it inside the Handling Machine; the Parson presumably perishing as he is never seen again. Following this, the Journalist continues on his way through the broken world - where he would later encounter the Artilleryman. Category:Deceased Category:Male character Category:Humans Category:Jeff Wayne